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Migration, Citizenship and Belonging in Hyderabad (Deccan), 1946–1956*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2010

TAYLOR C. SHERMAN
TAYLOR C. SHERMAN*
Affiliation:
International History Department, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK Email: t.c.sherman@lse.ac.uk
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Abstract

Whilst the history of the Indian diaspora after independence has been the subject of much scholarly attention, very little is known about non-Indian migrants in India. This paper traces the fate of Arabs, Afghans and other Muslim migrants after the forcible integration of the princely state of Hyderabad into the Indian Union in 1948. Because these non-Indian Muslims were doubly marked as outsiders by virtue of their foreign birth and their religious affiliation, the government of India wished to deport these men and their families. But the attempt to repatriate these people floundered on both political and legal shoals. In the process, many were left legally stateless. Nonetheless, migrants were able to creatively change the way they self-identified both to circumvent immigration controls and to secure greater privileges within India.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 45 , Issue 1: From Subjects to Citizens: Society and the Everyday State in India and Pakistan, 1947–1970 , January 2011 , pp. 81 - 107
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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